Apple released their second quarter earnings statement yesterday, showing that the company brought in $39.2bn in revenue for Q2, up from $24.67bn year-to-year. Apple registered a profit of $11.6bn, earning investors $12.30 per share. This trounced a consensus estimate by Thomas Reuters, which predicted revenue of $36.81bn. As of 12:20PM EST on Friday the 25th, Apple’s stock is trading at $609.30

Sales have been very impressive for the company, with 35.1 million iPhones being sold during the quarter, an increase of 88%. This works out to almost 12 million iPhones being sold each month. iPads also saw a surge in sales, selling approximately 4 million units each month, with a total of 11.8 million being sold in the quarter, an increase of 151%. Macintosh units also saw sales grow by 7% when compared to last year. However, iPod unit sales declined by 15%.

Also of note was the assertion that Apple had sold two iPads for every Mac in the education sector. In a conference call to discuss the quarterly earnings, Apple CEO Tim Cook stated that a price reduction for the iPad 2 “unlocked education demand”. Apple has historically given discounts for the education sector, including price cuts for anyone with a .edu email address.

Performance for Apple has been extraordinary since Mr. Cook took over for the late Steve Jobs in August of 2011, with Apple’s share price almost doubling in that time.

Analysis: As an iPhone and Mac owner, I am fully aware of how popular Apples devices have become over the last few years. When you look at the sheer figures that’s been provided, though, I can’t help but be completely shocked. These numbers are astronomically high. Let me put some perspective on the subject: Worldwide in 2011, 16 million Xbox 360s were sold and Sony expects to move 15 million in their fiscal year, which ended in March. Those individual totals are a little over how many iPhones are sold in a single month.

I only expect Apple’s already impressive numbers to continue to increase over the next year. Not only have they entered an incredibly profitable rhythm of releasing new renditions of their devices and software each year, and a product that a large early adopter base is always there to purchase, but there’s also the matter of the prices of the last generation of devices dropping by a significant amount to a much more affordable price to the public, maintaining that generations sales for some time.

With numbers that are simply this big, Apple is here to stay in the gaming industry. For better and for worse, the company has changed the face of mobile gaming forever. Entire retail home console games of last generation, such as Max Payne and Grand Theft Auto III, are now available on these small devices that can easily slip into our pockets. If you had asked me back in 2002 whether a device this small was able to play those titles, on a touch screen to boot, I probably would’ve spit the imaginary coffee or any other substance that currently resided in my mouth and walked away. Sometimes, you just have to take a step back and look at how far our entertainment devices have come over the last ten years. Makes you wonder what the next ten years could potentially have in store for us.

About Nathan Wood

When he picked up a controller on that fateful day at the age of 6, Nathan had no idea how quickly it would captivate him. Enjoying a wide range of games, he is up for anything as long as it is of good quality, interesting or laughably bad. When not playing or writing about video games, he enjoys music, film, basketball and art. He is currently completing his last year of his IB diploma before mastering the great land known only as: University.